Mine-railroad



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Patented Dec. 11, 1-883.

ATTORNEYS.

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UNITED STATES John G. THOMPSON,

P TENT OFFICE.

or CUBA, ILLINOIS.

M I-NE-RAILROAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 290,14, dated December 11, 1883.

Application filed May 16, 1883. (N0 model.) 7

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J onn G. THOMPSON, of Cuba, in the county of Fulton and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Mine-Railroad, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention consists of animproved contrivance in sloping roads for mines and the like, where one car ascends while another descends by a rope passing over a drum at the upper end, wherebya single track with a turnout in the center, where the cars pass each other, may be made to serve equally as well as a double track, said turn-out being so .contrived that the cars cross the rope without obstruction or detriment, and they automatically shift the switches of the turn-out as required for passing each other, all as hereinafter full described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a plan View of portions of a single track with my improved turn-out contrivance, and showing the positions of theswitches when the cars have just passed onto the turnouts. Fig. 2 is a similar View, showing the positions of the cars when they have automatically shifted the switches for'passing off from the turn-outs; and Fig. 3 is a detail in side elevation.

to represents the permanent rails of the single track; I), theswitch-rails; 0 and c, the turn out for the ascending loaded car (I; e and e, the turn-out for the descending empty car f, the cars being connected, as usual, to the respective ends of a rope, g, which extends up from one car around a drum at the end of the road, and down to the other car, said rope working on carrier-rollers h, located at suitable intervals along the road. Besides making the usual partings, 17, in the inside rails, c

side of the outer rails, to about the second or 7 third tie m, back along the turn-outs from the joint between the switch-rails andthe permanent rails, the free ends of the said levers being connected'tothe switch-bar a, said le- "vers being arranged in a higher plane than the rails, with the pivoted ends wider apart than the rails, and the free ends convergingto about the width from outside to outside of the switchrails, so that as the cars approach the switch either way in passing from the turnouts, theoutside wheels will run against the inner edge of the lever 70, lying obliquely across the outside rail, and pushit off, which will cause it to ,in like manner shift the switch back to the other turn-out. The same operation takes place at the lower end of the turn-outthat is to say, the car passing off from the turn-out sets the switch for'itself, and the switch remains to that turn-out until the car arrives back on said turn-out. Then the other car, descending, shifts the switch back to its turn-out, where said switch remains until said car returns. Thus it ,will be seen that I save the expense of most of the second'track always heretofore employed in this method of operating cars on steep grades in mines and elsewhere.

My improved railroad will be found especially serviceable, also, in running freight of stone, earth, and other matters downhill, for which uses an endless rope will be employed to wind around aidrum at the top of the plane or slope, the descending full carby its gravity elevating the'unloaded car, no engine or other auxiliary power beingin-this cas'e required, and any approved brake contrivance being fitted tothe drum for controlling the speed of the cars.

Having thus described myinvention,I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. An inclined or sloping I railroad for working cars in opposite directions at the' same time by a rope doubled around a drum with an inclined single-track road in which IO at the upper end of the road, the said read the cars are operated in both directions at the consisting of a single track with aturn-out, at same time by a rope which Works around a the center whereof the inside rails have opendruin at the upper end, said read having turn- .ings j, over which the wheels of the ears cross outs at the center, substantially as described. the rope, said rope being arranged within the l J OH1\ G. THOMPSON. single track and branching into and along the I \Vitnesses: turn-outs, substantially as described. P. S. GEORGE,.

2. The combination of automatic switches J. P. RANDALL. 

